College Farm Focus: Investment for a farming future

Find out more about the College Farm Focus initiative

Increasing the numbers in Warwickshire College's milking herd, along with the new Rapid Exit parlour and improved silage clamp, have brought opportunities, but challenges too.

First, increased cow numbers means more calves so youngstock housing had to be reviewed. Second, the construction of new buildings changes significantly the air flow around and through existing buildings which caused problems in the calf unit.

Calf health and growth depends on a good supply of colostrum in the first few days after birth, a regular supply of milk or milk substitute for the next two months and gentle weaning. Housing should be dry, draught free and well ventilated. Calves should be kept in their small groups to avoid cross contamination.

The single pitch calf unit, constructed in 1993, incorporating individual bucket-fed calf pens and loose housing for weaned calves with a capacity of 60, lost much of its airflow in 1997 with the building of the new parlour.

In spring 2000 the individual pens were removed and a Forster Technik Automatic calf feeding machine installed by Paul Wisden of Denkavit for £3300. The machine uses milk replacer and any waste milk that is available on a "little and often" system, which usually sees the calf feeding four or five times a day.

Ear tag

Each calf wears a transponder attached to the ear tag and is individually fed over a 56-day period, starting with four litres a day which increases to six litres on day seven. At eight weeks the machine gradually weans the calves off the milk. Although, at the time, this was a considerable outlay, it has cut labour costs in half and increased calf growth rates due to the milk being fed over a 24-hour period.

Health began to suffer and the prevention and cure of pneumonia and respiratory viruses became paramount as the first two weeks of life is vital for the calf's immune system to build up strength. But, with poor airflow, calf health was dependant on vaccines.

With an increased number of cows in 2002, and an autumn to spring calving pattern, a flurry of calves was created over a short period resulting in poor health and calf losses. So how do you improve health and cut losses without pulling down the unit and starting again?

Having released a smoke canister in an empty bay we realised that there was no airflow even on a breezy day, so we had to tackle the ventilation in the unit. The building had many partitions and Yorkshire boarding which didn't allow air to move freely and the roof purlins were stained with condensation. A number of different suppliers advised us that we should install fans and blowers at astronomical costs.

Create space

We decided to open up and create space wherever we could. That meant removing every other slat of Yorkshire boarding and opening the four individual bays into two larger ones. We then raised every third run of roofing sheets to 25cm above the existing roof line. This rapidly reduced losses and enabled us to stop using vaccines for virus pneumonia, a saving of £8 a calf. We still have cases like any unit, especially now the winters are warmer and air flow is less, but these simple changes have made a huge difference.

Throughput has also improved because the milk buyers have demanded a level profile, which has seen our calving spread all year round. This has helped to reduce the numbers in the two areas served by the calf feeder at any one time, allowing each area to be empted and cleaned between batches.

The Forster Technik feed machine has been retained, still serviced by Paul Wisden, who now works for himself. Neck collar transponders have now replaced ear tag ones to reduce the number of ripped ears and lost tags.

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